Job description template

Infrastructure Engineer

As an Infrastructure Engineer, you will design, build, and maintain reliable infrastructure that supports the company’s applications and services. You’ll work independently on well-defined projects, improve operational excellence, and partner with engineering teams to deliver secure, scalable systems.

Responsibilities

Own infrastructure changes from design through implementation and validation for assigned components
Maintain and improve reliability through monitoring, alerting, incident response, and post-incident follow-ups
Automate infrastructure provisioning and routine operations using Infrastructure as Code and scripting
Collaborate with software engineers to define and implement platform interfaces, deployment standards, and environment configurations
Implement and maintain security controls for infrastructure and runtime access (IAM, secrets handling, network rules)
Drive performance and cost improvements by tuning capacity, storage, and service configurations
Document infrastructure architecture, runbooks, and operational procedures to support ongoing operations

Must-have qualifications

Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS) and core services used for compute, networking, and storage
Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform) to provision and manage environments
Experience operating Linux-based systems and debugging production issues using logs and metrics
Solid understanding of networking fundamentals (VPC/VNet, routing, DNS, load balancing)
Ability to design for security (least privilege IAM, secrets management, secure access patterns)
Experience with CI/CD or automated deployment workflows that integrate with infrastructure changes

Nice to have

Experience with container platforms (e.g., Kubernetes) and production operations
Hands-on monitoring/observability tooling (e.g., Prometheus/Grafana/Datadog) and SLO/SLI-driven improvement
Experience improving infrastructure cost and performance through data-driven tuning
Familiarity with reliability engineering practices (error budgets, incident retros, capacity planning)

What success looks like in 12 months

Increase infrastructure reliability
Improve observability coverage
Standardize and automate infrastructure changes
Strengthen security posture for infrastructure access
Reduce operational overhead

Logistics

Full-time (40 hours a week), remote from Latin America.
Working hours overlap with US business hours.

About the company

[About your company: what you build, your stage and team size]

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Interview scorecard

Score every candidate against the same bar

Deliver secure, reliable, and efficiently operated infrastructure systems that enable engineering teams to ship with confidence.

Outcomes to measure

What this hire should deliver in the first year. Replace [N] with your own targets.

Increase infrastructure reliability. Measure: reduce production incident rate by [X]% and/or reduce time to restore service by [X]% over 12 months
Improve observability coverage. Measure: raise critical service monitoring coverage to [X]% and ensure alerting has actionable runbooks for [X]% of alerts
Standardize and automate infrastructure changes. Measure: migrate or onboard [N] infrastructure components to Infrastructure as Code and achieve [X]% change success rate for planned infrastructure updates
Strengthen security posture for infrastructure access. Measure: implement least-privilege access reviews and secrets management controls for [X]% of relevant systems and reduce unauthorized access findings to [X] or fewer
Reduce operational overhead. Measure: decrease manual infrastructure tasks by [X]% (measured via runbook usage, tickets, or change effort) and document [N] runbooks for on-call readiness

Competencies and weights

What to evaluate, how much it counts and what a strong answer looks like.

Cloud Infrastructure Design · 24%
This role independently delivers infrastructure changes across compute, networking, storage, and environments. Evaluated in Round 1.

Weak: Can describe cloud services at a high level but struggles to select an appropriate design for requirements.
Meets the bar: Designs and implements well-scoped cloud changes with correct connectivity and environment configuration.
Strong: Proposes and implements designs that balance reliability, scalability, and operational simplicity, including clear validation steps.

Infrastructure as Code · 20%
Infrastructure as Code is central for repeatable, reviewable changes and automation. Evaluated in Round 1.

Weak: Edits infrastructure manually or produces IaC that is hard to reuse or review.
Meets the bar: Writes Terraform/IaC modules that are readable, parameterized, and used to provision environments reliably.
Strong: Improves IaC structure (modules, variables, state strategy) and prevents drift via repeatable workflows and validations.

Production Debugging · 18%
Mid-level independence requires diagnosing issues using logs, metrics, and evidence-based troubleshooting. Evaluated in Round 2.

Weak: Relies on guesswork or limited data to troubleshoot production issues.
Meets the bar: Identifies root cause using logs/metrics, validates the fix, and prevents recurrence with follow-up actions.
Strong: Drives complex investigations end-to-end, correlating signals across systems and communicating findings clearly.

Security by Design · 14%
Security controls for IAM, secrets, and access patterns must be implemented as part of infrastructure work. Evaluated in Round 3.

Weak: Implements overly permissive access or mishandles secrets due to lack of security awareness.
Meets the bar: Applies least-privilege IAM, uses secrets management patterns, and designs secure access flows.
Strong: Improves security posture by identifying risky patterns and implementing safer defaults with evidence and documentation.

Networking Fundamentals · 12%
Correct networking design and troubleshooting is required for safe, reliable connectivity. Evaluated in Round 2.

Weak: Misunderstands basic networking concepts such as routing, DNS, or load balancer behavior.
Meets the bar: Explains and applies networking concepts to resolve connectivity and routing issues.
Strong: Designs network paths that reduce failure modes and can troubleshoot multi-step connectivity problems quickly.

Operational Excellence · 12%
Reliability improvements, documentation, and incident follow-through drive operational maturity. Evaluated in Round 3.

Weak: Does not follow through on incident learning or documentation, leading to repeated issues.
Meets the bar: Creates/updates runbooks, participates effectively in incident response, and drives measurable improvements after incidents.
Strong: Establishes sustainable operational processes (alert hygiene, runbook quality, post-incident actions) that improve outcomes over time.

Interview questions

Questions for every interview round

Each round has an owner, a time box and questions that test the competencies above.

Round 1: Infrastructure Foundations
Senior Infrastructure Engineer · 60 min

Describe a cloud infrastructure design you built or improved end-to-end (compute, networking, storage). What trade-offs did you make and how did you validate it worked in each environment?
Walk me through an Infrastructure as Code change you authored in Terraform: how you structured modules/variables, managed state, and ensured the change could be rolled out safely.
Give an example where you identified and prevented configuration drift or inconsistent environments. What signals did you use and what did you change in your workflow?

Round 2: Production Troubleshooting
Staff Reliability Engineer · 60 min

Tell me about a production incident you investigated. What were the first signals you looked at (logs/metrics/alerts), how did you narrow down the cause, and what evidence confirmed the fix?
Describe a networking-related issue you diagnosed in production (e.g., routing, DNS, load balancer behavior, security group/NACL issues). How did you validate the hypothesis and confirm the final resolution?
How do you decide what to monitor and alert on for an infrastructure component you own? Share one example of an alert you improved and the rationale.

Round 3: Security and Operations
Engineering Manager, Platform · 60 min

Describe how you implement least-privilege IAM and secure access patterns for infrastructure. What did you change when permissions were too broad?
Walk me through a secrets management approach you implemented or improved (where secrets live, how they are accessed, rotation considerations).
Tell me about a time you improved operational excellence: runbooks, alerting hygiene, incident learnings, or reliability practices. What measurable change resulted, and how did you ensure it stuck?

Red flags to watch for

Frequently describes manual, non-repeatable infrastructure changes without clear IaC automation practices
Troubleshooting stories that lack evidence (logs/metrics) or no clear root-cause and follow-up actions
Security approaches that rely on overly broad permissions or unsafe secrets handling patterns
Difficulty explaining networking basics (routing/DNS/load balancing) or repeatedly misdiagnoses connectivity issues

How much does it cost to hire an Infrastructure Engineer in Latin America?

In 2026, a senior Infrastructure Engineer in Latin America costs $5,750 to $6,625 a month all-in, versus $14,625 in the US: up to 61% less. Mid-level starts at $3,875.

Country

Mid-level

Senior

Argentina

$3,875

$5,750

Brazil

$4,250

$6,375

Colombia

$3,875

$5,750

Mexico

$4,375

$6,625

United States

$11,875

$14,625

Monthly cost in USD, all-in: the talent's salary plus Teilur's flat 20% fee, from our 2026 rates. The United States row shows what the same role typically costs there.

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Frequently asked questions

What does an Infrastructure Engineer do?

Typical responsibilities include: own infrastructure changes from design through implementation and validation for assigned components; maintain and improve reliability through monitoring, alerting, incident response, and post-incident follow-ups; automate infrastructure provisioning and routine operations using Infrastructure as Code and scripting. The full list is in the template above.

How much does it cost to hire an Infrastructure Engineer in Latin America?

In 2026, a senior Infrastructure Engineer in Latin America costs $5,750 to $6,625 a month all-in, versus $14,625 in the US: up to 61% less. Mid-level starts at $3,875.

Can I customize this Infrastructure Engineer job description?

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Infrastructure Engineer Job Description Template